BENGALURU: Two days before the Legislative Council elections on June 18, the ruling Congress moved its MLAs to Wonderla resort in Bidadi, where it held its legislature party meeting. The party is also strategising on voting for its five MLC candidates; while the party has the numbers for a smooth election, it is leaving nothing to chance.
Eight candidates are fighting for seven seats, and every single vote counts. The election has brought back classic resort politics and shadow games to the poll stage.
Unconfirmed reports said the JDS is preparing to shift its 18 legislators to a resort in North Bengaluru, near Devanahalli, on Wednesday, amid fears of cross-voting and poaching.
It is said that Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has personally orchestrated the relocation of Congress MLAs to the resort. It is the first test for Shivakumar, who took charge earlier this month. The Congress has 134 MLAs, but only around 120 legislators are at the resort. While party leaders claim that the remaining 13-14 MLAs are either busy with work or unwell, and have excused themselves, slivers of doubt remain.
The Congress is concerned about three issues— cross-voting, absenteeism and MLAs deliberately marking votes to make them invalid. The party will drive the MLAs from the resort straight to Vidhana Soudha on Thursday morning.
JDS insiders are said to be particularly anxious about the loyalty of GT Deve Gowda, a senior MLA and former core committee chairman, amid tight arithmetic for their candidate, Inchara Govindraj, also referred to as Govinda Raju. The JDS is reportedly short of a clear majority and is banking on some Congress MLAs either staying away or crossing over at the crucial moment.
Union minister and JDS leader HD Kumarawamy’s taunting jab “Why is the troubleshooter worried?” was a pointed reference to Shivakumar moving his legislators to a resort ahead of the high-stakes election on Thursday.
The BJP, which won 66 seats, is concerned about ST Somashekar, Shivaram Hebbar, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and Janardhan Reddy cross-voting.
Meanwhile, inside the Congress camp, the spotlight is on the fifth candidate, Vinay Karthik Prakash, a close confidant of CM Shivakumar. While the party is confident of securing four seats comfortably, the fate of the fifth contender has become its biggest headache.
Party leaders are breaking down voting patterns to the finest detail, reviewing each MLA’s allegiance, and reinforcing discipline to prevent any last-minute surprises. Sources said each of the legislators will be told whom to vote for and the party will ensure it too, as it is not a secret ballot. The Congress is openly worried about its legislator and former minister KN Rajanna, who was unceremoniously dropped from the cabinet.
As the rival camps plan their moves, the coming 48 hours promise to bring more twists to the plot.
